Unspoken
by Believe the Lie
Summary: When an injured Ginny turns to Hermione for help after a brutal accident, one thing leads to another until the two are at a loss for words. But then again, their relationship was always unspoken. Mild GWHG
1. The Night

Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter, nor do I plan on owning anything written by Ms. Rowling any time soon. Hey, it's common sense. If I owned the books, Ron wouldn't exist and Hermione and Ginny would declare their undying love for one another. Mwahaha.

A/N: I've toyed with_ minor_ plot details (-cough- sexuality, among other things) and I hope you don't mind.

**Warnings:** Mentions of blood, injury, you could've guessed from the summary. AND **_Very_ mild** **femmeslash** that will develop through the story. If you don't like that sort of thing, please leave and keep your flames to yourself. Rated T just to be on the safe side.

**Dedication:** To a friend of mine. And **to days of inspiration**, playin' hooky, making somethin' outta nothin', the need to express, to communicate, to going against the grain, going insane, going maaa-aa-aaa-a-aad.

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_(Late at night, one December evening.)_

Hermione sat alone by the fireplace, seemingly immersed in a novel about the impact of the Industrial Revolution on the wizarding community during the nineteenth century. She allowed her thoughts to wander, her eyes scanned the common room before they finally settled upon Ron and Harry playing a game of chess. She smiled slightly as she examined Harry's face which was contorted into a mixture of a frown and a skeptical grin: the undoubted sign that he was attempting to concentrate very hard. His eyes lit up and he slid his bishop several spaces towards Ron's king.

"Check," he said loudly, sure that he had won the game. "Let's see you get out of this one, Weasley."

Ron contemplated his move for a few seconds before decimating Harry's bishop with a knight, "Check-...mate." Harry sighed in disbelief and threw his hands up in the air, shrugging.

The deafening sound of Ron's victorious cheers filled the Gryffindor common room. Hermione couldn't help but laugh at his enthusiasm. They were the last ones left in the common room, a rare occurrence, but nonetheless, it was the holiday season and most students had opted to return home during the winter holidays.

"That's it, I'm going to bed," Harry declared to no one in particular as he gathered up some of the books that lay at his feet.

"What, why?" Ron asked. "Come on, mate, just one more game?"

Harry scoffed. "You said that three games ago. I ended up losing to you each time," he reminded his friend. He turned to Hermione and offered her a simple, "Good night," before retreating up the staircase and into the boys' dormitory.

Ron glanced at his watch and rolled his eyes, "Ok, how about you, Hermione? Fancy a game of Wizards' Chess?"

Hermione snapped her book shut loudly and strolled over to where he stood, "As much as I enjoy beating your sorry ass at chess, I'm afraid that I must respectfully decline." She turned on her heel and whipped her flowing brown hair back as she strolled across the hall and towards the stairs to her dormitory.

"Aw, you're just jealous!" Ron shouted after her and then continued to sulk as he packed his chess set away into a box.

Hermione grinned in spite of herself and walked up the stairs and into her dormitory. The prefects each had their own separate rooms, one floor beneath the standard living quarters for the rest of the Gryffindors'. She pulled a key from her pocket and slipped it quietly into the lock that separated her from her room. The door opened into a nicely furnished room overflowing with the colors red and gold. After propping the door open with a book, she walked the length of her room and lit the two oil lamps that sat by the window, allowing light to flood into the once darkened room.

She sat down on her bed which was up against the far corner of the wall, and pulled out a book which she tried hard to get involved in. She found herself wondering, instead, if Ginny had ever come back from dinner that night._ I'm being ridiculous, of course she must have come back._ She thought for a moment,_ I never saw her go to bed. As a matter of fact, I didn't see her once tonight._

Her thoughts prevented her from hearing the very faint knock on her door. She did, however, hear the very raspy plea that followed.

"Hermione?" said a voice from the doorway.

Her head snapped up from the book in her lap to see Ginny Weasley standing in her doorway, hands covered in scrapes and dried blood. She was leaning against the door frame, looking like she would fall over if she didn't. Hermione dropped the book to the floor and walked across the room to her friend. "Ginny?" she said very quietly. "What...," she drifted off, then swallowed hard as she looked over her friend's beaten form, "...happened to you?"

Ginny began to breathe harder, clinging to the side of the door for support, "I don't...I need to lie down." The color drained from her face and she fell forward into Hermione's outstretched arms. Hermione caught her at the waist, causing the younger girl to cry out in pain.

She helped her to stand and, wrapping one arm around her, led her slowly to the bed. Ginny sat down as close to the edge of the bed as possible, cringing as her back arched. Hermione sat down next to her and got a closer look at her friend's back. Her shirt was soaked through in some places, thick with a mixture of blood and sweat. Glass shards of different sizes stuck out at odd angles from the holes in her shirt. Hermione let out a soft gasp and turned her body to look into Ginny's eyes. "Ginny," she said calmly, "we need to take you to the Hospital Wing."

Ginny sat bolt upright, sending a spasm of pain down her spine. She gritted her teeth for a moment and pleaded, "No, Hermione I can't. If my mum finds out that I was outside of my room after curfew again, she'll pitch a fit." Her words were interrupted by short gasps for air, her eyes reflected how difficult it was for her to speak through the pain. It took a few moments for her breathing to slow down before she added, "Please, Hermione, isn't there anything you can do?" Tears began to well up in her eyes, reflecting the light from the lamps as she stared at Hermione, determined to make her agree.

Hermione shut her eyes and let out a breath she did not realize that she had been holding. She considered Ginny's plea for a moment before responding, "Yes." She stood up from the bed and exited her bedroom and entered the adjoining bathroom, returning within a minute with a potion that resembled muggle rubbing alcohol, cotton, and a roll of bandages. She picked up a pair of tweezers off of her dresser and set all of the items down on a night table next to the bed. Hermione placed a wooden stool at the side of her bed and sat down, resting her hand on top of Ginny's as she did so. The other girl flinched at the contact of Hermione's hand and pulled away. "Are you sure you want me to do this," she asked tentatively, peering at Ginny with a sense of sympathy and remorse.

Ginny nodded. "Please...help me," she stuttered out while her eyes remained fixed on the floor. Hermione could see that she was desperately trying to hold back tears.

She paused before saying softly, "Can you take off your shirt? Some of the..." she swallowed, "glass might come out easier if you do."

"Sure," Ginny said nonchalantly and began to carefully peel the shirt from her skin. After a minute or two, the shirt came off and with it went several shards of glass. Ginny was breathing heavily again, trying to block out the pain. She laid down on her stomach, her body spread out on the bed where she waited for the pain to begin again.

"You might want to hold on to something," Hermione suggested, already regretting the amount of pain she was about to cause her friend. Ginny grabbed hold of a pillow and hugged tightly to her chest just as Hermione reached towards her and swiftly began removing pieces of glass. She flinched and gasped quietly into the pillow as the shards were ripped from her skin but she never said a word; she would not even allow herself to cry. After most of the larger pieces had been removed, Hermione, her voice shaky, mumbled quietly, "Ginny?"

Her head rose from the pillow to meet Hermione's gaze. "Is that it?" She asked in disbelief.

Hermione slowly shook her head, "Um, I didn't want to resort to this, but some of this glass is stuck in pretty well."

Ginny propped herself up on her elbows, her body tensing in response to the pain, "What...Can you get it out?"

She took a deep breath and nodded, "This will hurt." She stared directly into Ginny's eyes and added, "Very much."

Ginny nodded back, "Do it." She buried her face into the pillow and prepared for the worst.

Hermione pulled her wand out of her pocket and took several deep breaths. _I really don't want to do this, I really don't want to do this._ She clenched her eyes shut tightly and concentrated on what she was about to do. "Accio glass," she said firmly, pointing her wand towards Ginny's tense body.

In a matter of seconds, the glass found its way out of Ginny's skin, into Hermione's outstretched palm and onto the night table in a neat pile of red shards. Ginny's scream was muffled by the pillow but the sound still rang out shrilly and pierced through Hermione's chest like a knife. She leaned forward and delicately lifted Ginny by her shoulders into a sitting position and hugged her close, carefully trying to avoid contact with the cuts that lined her back.

"Oh, Ginny, I'm so sorry," she said softly, cradling the other girl in her arms.

A few minutes of complete silence passed before Ginny pulled back from Hermione's grasp. She swallowed hard and coughed to regain her voice. "It's not your fault. I should have come straight here after dinner." She looked mournfully upon the lines of blood that graced her pale white skin. Tears returned to her eyes, but Hermione could tell that she was determined not to burst out crying. "I...have to tell you," she struggled out after regaining her composure.

Hermione nodded slowly and braced herself for the worst.

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Next chapter: you'll find out what the hell happened.

A/N: I'm thinking of two more chapters. Yes, I know that I got my details very wrong at some points. The Accio thing probably wouldn't be done like that if JKR was writing this. My apologies...I know I'm not a very good writer.


	2. Realization

A/N: 200 pageviews. Pretty neat. So I was having a cup of tea a few hours ago and the stupid cheap American tea bag leaked "tea leaves" (or "tea powder" I guess is a more appropriate term) all into my mug. And on top of that, it tasted gross. I still stand firmly by my opinion that Lipton tea tastes exactly like dishwater. Blech. So anyway, when all of the tea was gone, I looked at the leaves at the bottom and and...I saw...a pile of moist tea leaves. And this, my friends, is why I failed Divination. Twice.

Note about the actual chapter: I've found a way to write this so it's more interesting than I originally intended. I'm also going to be switching POV's, but it should be pretty clear as to what I'm doing. Just go with it, ok?

This chapter is **dedicated to Questioning Destiny** Mostly because she wrote a kick-ass review, also because her stories are equally awesome. Thanks a bunch.

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(_Time elapsed between chapters: fifteen minutes_) 

Hermione gently wrapped the cotton bandages around Ginny's torso, carefully avoiding direct contact with her wounds. They had been sitting in silence for some time now, and she was beginning to find it unbearable. She struggled to keep her eyes from focusing on Ginny's mangled form in order to avoid the daunting questions that plagued her mind, _what happened to her, why won't she talk to me, what if this is all my fault_? But she kept her thoughts to herself, keeping herself busy with the menial task of fixing her friend's wounds. _I only wish there was more that I could do..._

Ginny's breaths were sharp and rapid, eyes shut so tight and her teeth clenched together equally hard. Hermione could tell that she was fighting to keep back cries of pain. She almost laughed at the thought, _she was always strong..._ She snipped off the end of the last bandage and Ginny's stiffened form relaxed only slightly. She slowly helped Ginny into one of her own shirts, leaving the forgotten, bloody and torn mess of fabric on the floor by the side of her bed. "Are you ready to talk?" Hermione said very quietly as she sat back down on her stool beside the bed.

Ginny shook her head slowly, prompting a look of concern from Hermione who opened her mouth as if to say something. Ginny cut her off before she had the chance to speak, "But I can show you." She ran a shaky hand through her hair in an effort to compose herself before adding, "Hermione, take my hand."

Baffled, Hermione looked back at her, questioningly, "Ginny, what--?"

"Just..." she trailed off and extended a bloody palm draped in bandages towards the other girl. "Trust me."

Hermione met her eyes just for a second before slowly drifting her hand up and into Ginny's. Their fingers intertwined for a moment sending a comforting warmth into her fingertips that quickly spread up into her arm and throughout her body. Ginny mumbled a word under her breath that Hermione couldn't catch and a feeling of power flowed over her, overtaking every aspect of her form.

It was a feeling like falling face-first into a bottomless pit. Suddenly, the walls of the room began to bend inward, melting into a different scene entirely. Hermione shot forward and felt her surroundings begin to slip away as she plummeted farther from her bedroom and into a place that was unfamiliar to her.

She landed a little less than gracefully on the ground, hitting the floor hard with only her outstretched hands to break the fall. She stood up slowly and looked around the darkened corridor, gradually becomming aware of her surroundings. _Definitely the dungeons,_ she concluded, glancing at the elaborate tapestries and iron torches that lined the walls that surrounded her. _Ginny Weasley, what the_ bloody_ hell have you done to me?_ Her mind screamed with frustration.

The sound of footsteps echoing down the corridor ripped her away from her thoughts. _Someone's coming, should I hide or should I ask them where I am? Wait, _what Torn between the two choices and unable to make a decision, she stood stupidly in the middle of the corridor and waited for the footsteps to pass. A familiar redheaded girl appeared just off to her left.

"Ginny!" Hermione shouted at her, glad to see her friend. Hermione walked towards her, but Ginny, unaware of her presence, continued walking at a brisk pace through the corridor. "Ginny? What's going on?"

The other girl continued to walk without so much as a care for Hermione's words. Hang on. She pondered her situation for a moment while she continued to walk briskly after Ginny, taking long quick strides in order to match her pace. With a sudden burst of realization, Hermione picked up her pace to a jog and jumped out in front of Ginny.

The red head walked right through her as if she wasn't there at all. _Because I'm_ not _really here_, she thought just as the clock chimed ten consecutive times. _I'm in the past. She sent me back...to relive it._

The blast of red light seemed to come out of nowhere, as did the group of five boys that followed it. The crests that they bore on their chests were clearly ones of the House of Slytherin. Ginny was thrown back against the dungeon wall as the bolt of light hit her square in the chest. She gasped and clasped her chest as she sunk to the floor, out of breath and confused by the sudden attack.

"Malfoy sends his regards. He wished that he could've been here in person, but he had more..." one of the older boys said, shooting a glance in Ginny's direction in search of the right word to say, "shall I say, _personal_ matters to attend to." He snickered and motioned for another boy to come forward from the shadows that graced every inch of the corridor.

"Of course, he was very clear as to what to do with you," he said, voice dripping with loathing and an aire of superiority that was common of those in his House. The second boy came forward and grabbed Ginny by the collar of her shirt, forcing her to stand. She struggled, trying to pry free from his gasp. Two more boys came forward and grabbed her arms, restraining her and preventing her from moving at all. The leader of the group moved towards her, wand at his side. "You're going to send a message to Harry Potter for us," he said, unable to wipe the smirk off of his face. "You'll make sure he gets it, won't you?"

Ginny stood limply against the wall and turned her head downwards, averting her gaze from the boy's steely grey eyes. The boy chuckled lightly to himself. His laugh echoed through the halls and rang shrilly through Ginny's ears, making her shudder slightly. "You're going to tell him for us," the boy continued moving his face very close to Ginny's so that he was whispering in her ear, "that if he _ever _decides to bad-mouth a Slytherin ever again, this is what will be waiting for him." His breath was hot against her cheek, but the feeling made her shiver. He grinned and backed off for a moment, pocketed his wand and rolled the sleeves of his robes up to his elbows.

Hermione stood with her back leaned against the cold stone wall. Both of her hands gripped tightly at the door frame that she was standing beside, feeling more completely and hopelessly helpless than she had ever felt before. _Here it is, she's going to be beaten half to death by a bunch of Slytherins and there's nothing I can do but watch...I can't just stand by and let this happen, I have to do_ something

But she stood by, knowing that Ginny was beyond her reach just this once. The boy's fist rose into the air and hovered a few feet in front of Ginny before it finally came down, making a sickening -thud- sound as it collided with the side of her face. Hermione cried out, but Ginny did not make a sound. "What's the matter," the boy questioned, "can't you feel the pain?" He snickered, "Or maybe, you _like_ it."

He took a step backwards and drew his wand from the front of his robes, pointing it precisely at one of Ginny's restrained arms. He mumbled a series of words and another jet of red shot from his wand, making contact with her right hand with a sickening crunch. Ginny whimpered softly and shrank back against the wall in pain while trying desperately not to move her now-broken fingers. A small trickle of blood dripped from her palm and through her curled fingers. Still smiling, he stepped in closer to admire his handiwork. "Hmm, not bad," he murmered just as plainly as if he were complimenting a student for writing a good essay. "Still," he said, frowning slightly, "I don't think you've quiet got the message." The two boys holding her up by the arms let go at the same time, allowing her to drop to the floor, clutching her arm in pain.

"Stand up," the boy growled, pointing his wand directly at her, almost challenging her to defy him.

Hermione was petrified. _Ginny, please, oh God, don't do anything stupid_...

Ginny, however, obliged and stood on shaky legs while cradling her arm. She managed to look him directly in the eyes and utter the crystal-clear words, "Go fuck yourself."

The boy's eyes burned with fury and contempt for having been defied by such a pathetic excuse for a Gryffindor. "Now, now, you must learn to mind that temper of yours, Weasley," he said, his voice shaking with rage. He lifted his wand again and screamed a phrase that Hermione was not familiar with. Ginny flew back into the air and crashed through a glass display case that was positioned outside a classroom. The sound of the glass shattering was enough to wake every single person in the school. Ginny's limp body slipped down from the display case and landed in a heap on the floor only to be showered with the remnants of glass that had refused to fall only seconds before. Hermione cried out again as she fought to hold back tears, reminding herself that this event had already transpired...there was nothing she could do...

"Shit!"

"Come on!"

"Now!"

"We have to get out of here!" some of the boys yelled as the group scrambled to get out of the dungeons as soon as possible. "Remember what I said, Weasley," growled the leader before he exited majestically with a swing of his flowing robes.

Before she had the chance to move towards Ginny, the falling sensation returned and she was swept away from the past to return to her dormitory room once again. She was sitting in the same stool next to Ginny who was sitting on the bed, arms crossed with her fingernails pressed forcefully into her arms.

Ginny swallowed hard, "I'm sorry you had to see that." She shook her head and looked down at a spot on the floor, "I didn't think...words couldn't describe..."

Hermione stood up and sat next to Ginny on the bed, wrapping her arm around the younger girl as she did so, "I know." She sighed, "Ginny, I'm so sorry." She inhaled quickly in an attempt to stop crying before Ginny realized that her eyes were full of tears.

"It's not your fault," Ginny said very quietly, leaning her head on Hermione's shoulder. "Please, don't cr--" she was cut off by the harsh reality of her own tears that were beginning to flow freely down her face. Tears that had been wanting to fall for so long now. She leaned out of Hermione's grasp and layed down on her side, careful not to disturb the wounds that lined her back. Hermione sat at the edge of the bed for a few moments, unsure of what to do, before the sound of Ginny's stifled crying drew her to lay down next to her. She gently wrapped her arms around Ginny's waist and drew her body close to her own, trying to calm the other girl with her presence.

Ginny was crying now; full, gut-wrenching sobs that made both of their bodies shake with the overpowering emotional force behind them. Hermione moved one of her hands slowly through Ginny's hair, pulling it out of the girl's face and playing with it gently between her fingers as she breathed soothing words into her ear. Slowly, the sobs began to die down and sleep took hold of the younger girl and refused to let go.

Hermione, however, remained awake listening to the other girl's strained breaths as they became more relaxed and drawn-out, taking comfort in the steady, methodical rise and fall of Ginny's chest.

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A/N: Damn, I think that was the best thing I've written yet. Pardon the typos! I sincerely hope that you enjoyed that. If you did (hell, even if you _didn't_) please feel free to tell me through a **review**. They make my day! Especially since I kinda blew off Math, German, Chem and AP World homework to write this. Hey, I'm allowed. It's not like I blew off English or anything_ important_ like that. No, wait, that was yesterday... 

It's not over YET!


	3. Tomorrow and the Sun

A/N: Thanks to all for the reviews, I hope you enjoy this **final chapter** (woot woot!). Oh, and don't dwell too much on the time travel thing. I never intended for it to be a major aspect of the plot or something to provoke thought. Long chapter. Well, longer than usual, anyway.

**Disclaimer:** I don't own, nor do I claim to own. I'm just messing with JKR's characters.

Setting: Harry's sixth year at Hogwarts.

Note on _italics_: I use italics to _emphasize_ words or to express _Hermione's thoughts_. That is all.

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The mellow dawn crept swiftly across the grounds of Hogwarts, casting light upon all that it encountered, leaving nothing in the dark. A ray of sunlight slipped soundlessly through the opening in the curtains that covered the window of Hermione Granger's room and mercilessly fixed itself on her face. 

She stirred from her sleep and buried her face deep into the nape of Ginny's neck in order to escape from the sunlight that had spilled into the room. Though still asleep, Ginny offered a small sigh of content. Hermione smiled and took a deep breath, inhaling the faint vanilla aroma that emanated from Ginny's hair and enjoying the intoxicating feeling that it produced. It was at this point that Hermione became aware of exactly what she was doing and who she was doing it to.

Her eyes snapped open violently as her breathing accelerated. She slowly slid her arm out from around Ginny's waist and moved her other hand, which had found its way under Ginny's shirt at some point the night before, into view. It took all of her self control to get up from the bed as quietly as possible without screaming "what the bloody hell did I just do?" at the top of her lungs. As soon as she was free from Ginny's grasp, she moved away from the bed swiftly and began busying herself with the menial task of making tea.

_Don't think, don't think,_ she kept repeating in her head,_ if I dwell on this too long, I'll go crazy. Nothing happened._ She set a small teapot up on the window sill and lit a flame beneath it by muttering a simple incantation. _Nothing happened, she's not even awake yet._ She ran a hand through her hair and prayed that Ginny was still sleeping: she was. Hermione let out a sigh of relief as she continued to busy herself by heating the water to boiling, eager to occupy her mind with something other than the injured girl lying in her bed. She reached into a cupboard that sat by the window, withdrawing two mugs with she sat on the window sill to her left. When the kettle began to emit a shrill whistling sound, she turned off the heat and poured steaming hot water over the tea bags that lay in the bottom of both mugs.

Ginny woke upon hearing the noise of the whistling tea kettle. She shifted uncomfortably for a few moments, confused by the sudden loss of warmth that Hermione's presence instilled. Hermione heard the rustling of the bed sheets and snapped her head quickly in Ginny's direction, only to mutter a feeble " 'Morning" when she found the girl awake.

Ginny returned her greeting with a shaky smile as she tried to sit up in bed. The pain poked at her back, a sensation similar to lying on a bed of needles. She cringed slightly, but the pain had substantially subsided from what it was the night before. Feeling the need to move around, she stood up watching as bits of dried blood flaked from her clothing and skin as she moved. "I think you're going to be needing a new shirt," she remarked after seeing the amount of blood that had soaked through the shirt Hermione lent her the night before.

Hermione looked up from her cup of tea which she had been studying intently while Ginny spoke. "Yeah, I suppose," she said absently, her mind elsewhere.

"Hermione, is everything all right?" Ginny said as she walked over to the window to pick up her own cup of tea. Her voice was firm, expressing only a touch of sympathy towards her friend.

"What?" she said hurriedly, breaking her train of thought. "No, I'm fine..." she trailed off, thinking once again about the events that had transpired the night before."It's just that last night-"

"I know, it was my fault entirely," Ginny said, motioning with her free hand to emphasize her point. She sat down on the window sill next to Hermione and tried, and failed, to make eye contact with her. "I should have made sure you were comfortable with what I wanted to do before I did it." Hermione nodded in agreement but did not speak as she continued to stare deep into the bottom of the mug in her hands. _You _wanted_ it? What the hell am I supposed to say to that? I have no idea what I want..._ Hermione chewed at her bottom lip and considered her situation for the moment. One thought existed in her mind that melted through Hermione's logical approach, _I want_ her. _What?! Where did_ that _come from?_ She shook her head slowly but was unable to mentally shake the thought from her mind.

_She has a point, though_ she couldn't help but think as she ended her staring contest with her tea and met Ginny's eyes with her own. "I know, but it's my fault as well. I should have anticipated it."

Ginny took a sip of her tea, recoiling slightly as the hot liquid singed her tongue, "How could you have _possibly_ anticipated it? I doubt anyone without access to dark magic would have known what I was doing."

Hermione gaped, taken aback by the sudden change in the conversation. "_What_ are you talking about?" she snapped, a little more harshly than she intended.

She returned her question with a confused look "The spell I used last night?" she said while raising an eyebrow. "The one that sent you into the past?"

"Oh," Hermione replied unenthusiastically. _Wonderful, so _that's_ what she meant..._ "Yeah, where did you learn how to do that?" _Ah, changing the subject: an excellent approach._

She shrugged. "There are a few things that I've learned from Tom Riddle's diary that I've kept silent about," she said with a wry grin.

"For instance, sending people back into the past whenever you please," Hermione said sardonically and took another sip of her tea. She was in a mood to poke fun at Ginny now, and nothing could stop her. "Ginevra Weasley, kid sister of Ron Weasley, dabbling with the dark arts," she said with mock sincerity, chuckling as Ginny cringed at the mention of her full name. "I never would have thought you to be the type to do such a thing," she said, feigning a look of shock.

Ginny played along, looking appalled as she said, "_Kid sister_? C'mon, Hermione, what did I do to deserve that?" She tilted her head down towards her tea in a desperate attempt to hide the smile that was slowing creeping across her face. After she had regained her composure, Ginny looked up and met Hermione's eyes with her own, astonishing the older girl with the amount of emotion concealed behind her expression. "There are a lot of things you don't know about me," she said, her voice barely above a whisper as she slid closer to Hermione.

_Ginny, please don't do this to me._ Hermione stood up quickly, nearly spilling her tea as she moved away from Ginny, eager to dampen the feeling of ..._what is this? Love? Lust?_

Ginny, looking embarassed quickly supplied an excuse before Hermione had the chance to explain her actions. "You know what? It's getting late, I wanted to find Harry before breakfast and tell him about..." she trailed off tentatively, still unwilling to bring up the subject. She hastily placed her tea on Hermione's desk and stuttered out a brief, "I should go" before leaving Hermione alone in her room with nothing but lukewarm tea and a fistful of indescribable emotions.

Hermione stared at the door as it closed upon Ginny's exit. "What is _wrong_ with me?" she pleaded to herself in anguish.

* * *

Ginny returned several hours later to find Hermione sitting at her desk, nose buried deeply within a book. "I spoke to Harry," she stated, her voice cutting through the silence like a knife. 

Hermione's head snapped up at the sound of her voice. "How did he take it?" she asked cautiously, furrowing her brow. She turned in her chair to face the girl that had just walked into her room.

She wrung her hands and sighed, "Not too well. I managed to convince him that killing Malfoy would solve nothing and he's agreed to send as many Bludgers as possible in that git's direction during the Gryffindor/Slytherin match next weekend." She shrugged, indifferently, "I think it's the right thing to do."

Hermione nodded, "As much as I want to hex him into oblivion for what he did to you, I think it'll be a bit more satisfying to see him plunge to his death on the Quidditch pitch."

Ginny smiled, "Yeah, that would definitely be worth watching." Silence came over the room again and refused to yield for several painfully long minutes. _Say something, anything _Hermione pleaded silently. Finally, Ginny found the courage to speak. "Uh, I never really got the chance to properly thank you for what you did for me last night," she said, her voice shaking with a mixture of nervousness and anticipation.

"Oh, you don't have to...it's no problem, really, I-"

In a single sweeping motion, Ginny cut her off by brushing her lips against Hermione's. Though it only lasted a few seconds, the interaction took Hermione's breath away and she was left unable to speak as Ginny pulled away slowly. "Thank you," the younger girl said in a very breathy voice, "for everything." Hermione's expression did nothing to reflect her emotions; she remained calm with a blank stare on her face which Ginny interpreted to be a sign of shock. Panicking, she moved back as quickly as she could, "I-I'm _really_ sorry, Hermione, I shouldn't have-"

As she turned to leave, Hermione caught her by the arm. "Please, don't go," she whispered, her eyes betraying her emotions to Ginny. Without another word, she rose from her chair and let her hand slide down Ginny's arm until it came to rest at her wrist. Ginny shivered involuntarily and turned to face her, unsure of what to expect. Their eyes locked. Hermione lifted a hand to push a stray piece of hair back behind Ginny's ear, allowing her hand to linger in front of Ginny's face as she did so. She grazed her cheek lightly with her thumb, taking pleasure in the shiver caused by her touch. Silently, Hermione tilted her head and leaned in towards Ginny, slowly joining their lips in a passionate kiss. Allowing her eyes to close, Hermione took pleasure in the warmth that spread throughout her body. Ginny's hands found their way into her hair, gradually becomming entwined with her bushy brown locks. Hermione let out a small moan as she wrapped both of her arms around Ginny's waist, overcome by the intense desire to get as close to her as possible.

The two girls separated only when oxygen was becoming a serious issue. Each of them was breathing heavily and doing a poor job of concealing it from the other. Opening her eyes, she found Ginny staring intently at her with a look of desperation and longing. A smile crept across her face when she realized that the desires she possessed were shared between the two of them. Slowly, Ginny returned her smile and and kept smiling even throughout the second breathtaking kiss. No words were exchanged between the two, but words were hardly necessary. After all, their relationship had always been unspoken.

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A/N: I think I might have rushed the ending a bit, but it still made me smile, nevertheless. **That's all, folks.** I'd appreciate if you left me a review telling me what you thought about it. Expect more from me in the future. 


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